Shoulder rest for telephone handset



Oct. 27, 1959 F. CROMER 2,910,547

SHOULDER REST FOR TELEPHONE HANDSET Filed May 13, 1957 Y INVENTOR. F0 vd ,C re me r BY wwy m /4 fifi'orneys United States Patent SHOULDER RESTFOR TELEPHONE HANDSET Ford Cromer, Alabaster, Ala., assignor to AlabastaOptical & Plastic Company, a corporation of Alabama Application May 13,1957, Serial No. 658,565

4 Claims. (Cl. 179--157) This invention relates to a shoulder rest for atelephone hand set such as is employed to free the hands of thetelephone user, and has for an object to provide a device of thecharacter designated which may be readily mounted on a telephone handset and when mounted be held firmly in place.

Another object of my invention is to provide a telephone hand setshoulder rest, fitting snugly over the hand set, which shall be formedof a resilient material adapted to spring over and grip the hand set andwhich shall also include a portion having a ridge thereon engageablebetween the cap on the ear piece and the body of the hand set, wherebywhen the cap is screwed down the device is firmly clamped to the handset.

A further object of my invention is to provide a telephone hand setshoulder rest made of resilient material fitting snugly over andgripping the handle of the hand set and which shall include ridges onthe inside surface positioned to engage shoulders formed on the sides ofthe hand set, or against the bottom of the handle of the hand set.

A device embodying features of my invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is an end elevational view showing the device installed on atypical telephone handset which is shown diagrammatically;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line IIIIII ofFig. 2 with the hand set removed;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of the handle housing taken alongthe line IV-IV of Fig. 2; and,

Fig. 5 is a side elevation, drawn to a smaller scale, showing the devicein place.

Referring to the drawing, I show a conventional telephone hand set 10,having a mouth piece 11 and an ear piece 12. There is a cap 13 screwedonto the mouth piece and another cap 14 screwed onto the ear piece, thesaid caps holding the diaphragms in place in the mouthpiece and the earpiece. Also, as is well known, the caps 13 and 14 do not screw tightlyagainst the body of the handset but are so designed as to leave a smallgroove 16 between the cap 14 and the body of the handset 10. Inaccordance with my invention, I take advantage of this fact to securethe shoulder rest in place.

The shoulder rest, shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive is made of asuitable resilient material such as a resilient molded plastic which canbe sprung over and grip the handle of the handset. Inthe drawing, theshoulder portion is shown at 17 and, as is well known, is adapted torest on the shoulder of the user, thus freeing his hands for otherduties. Preferably, some soft material having a high coefficient offriction is embodied in the shoulder portion as shown at 15. The body ofthe device is provided with relatively thin, spaced walls.,18 and 19which fit snugly over the handle of the handset and down over a portionof the ear piece 16. The particular handset shown in the drawings is onein which the upper sur- 2,910,547 Patented Oct. 27, 1959 face of thehandle, or that side remote from the mouthpiece 13 and ear piece 14 isflat as shown at 21. It will be understood however, that telephonehandsets are made with handles having various contours and it iscontemplated that my invention will be formed with an inside contour tofit snugly over and bear against the surfaces of the handset. At the endof the device remote from the ear piece 12 I provide a downwardlysloping end portion 20 which is also designed to tfit snugly against theupper surface 21 of the handle.

Extending along the sides of the handle of the handset are shoulders 22and 23 and formed on the inner surfaces of the sides 18 and 19 areridges 24 and 26 which are positioned to hook in under the shoulders 22and 23 when the device is in place and thus, in cooperation with theresilient gripping action of the sides of the device hold the end of thedevice remote from the ear piece 14 rigidly in place. Where the deviceis employed with a handset having a handle which is not provided withshoulders such as 22 and 23, the ridges 24 and 26 will be positioned toengage under the handle. Also, I provide a transverse reinforcing wall27 extending between the side walls 18 and 19 which fit snugly againstthe upper surface 21 of the handle. Again, it will be understood thatthis transverse wall will be designed to fit whatever contour thehandset has.

A very important feature of my invention is the means for securing theend of the device adjacent the ear piece 12. In accordance with myinvention I provide a lip 28 on the device which extends downwardly, asviewed in the drawing, over the ear piece 12 and for a slight distanceover the cap 14 for the ear piece. This lip is curved in cross sectionto fit snugly over the ear piece 12. On the underside of the lip 28, Iprovide a ridge 29 which fits into the groove 16 between the cap 14 onthe ear piece 12 and the body of the handset. In mounting the device ona handset, the cap 14 is slacked off and the ridge 29 inserted in thegroove 16 and then the cap 14 is screwed down. The ridge is of suchwidth as not to interfere with the proper tightening of the cap 14 andof such thickness that it is firmly gripped between the cap 14 and earpiece 12.

By the means described, it will be seen that when the device is mountedon a handset, it is firmly held in place by the cap screw 14 and by theridges 24 and 26 on the opposite end which hook in under the shoulders22 and 23 on the sides of the handle.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have devised an improvedshoulder rest for a telephone handset which is simple of design, whichmay be readily manufactured by a molding operation, and which is adaptedto be readily mounted upon a handset and firmly held in place.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications without departing from the spiritthereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall beplaced thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a shoulder rest for a telephone hand set of the type having an earpiece and a mouth piece joined by a common handle, the ear piece havinga cap which screws onto the body of the hand set leaving a groovebetween the body and the cap, the improvement comprising a resilientbody molded to fit snugly about and grip the handle, said body having alip portion extending over the handle to a position beyond the edge ofthe cap, and a ridge on the under side of the lip adapted to fit intothe groove and engageable by the edge of the cap to hold the shoulderrest in place.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 in which the body 4. A device asdefined in claim 2 in which the handle portion is provided with sideportions adjacent the end of the handset is firmly gripped between theridges on remote from the lip portion which grip the sides of the thesides and the end of the device remote from the ear handle, said sideportions having ridges on the under sides piece. i thereof which engagethe sides of the handle. 5 I i 3. A device as set forth in claim 2 inwhich a transverse Refel'gilces Cited in the file of this Patentreinforcing wall, is provided which extends between the UN E A S PATENTSside portions and fits against the upper surface of the handle, and inwhich the upper surface of the device at 7 4 the end remote from the earpiece and opposite the shoul- 10 ders bears against the handle.

